News Article

2DS CPU Update Looks Set to Adjust System Security

Following its launch in Western territories on 12th October 2013 — alongside Pokémon X & Y — the 2DS has sold (as of 31st March 2014) 2.2 million units. That's not too bad for a hardware iteration targeted at a rather specific demographic and not given the most high profile of launch campaigns. As a budget tablet-like alternative without the 3D effect, it appears to have enjoyed a solid start at market.

It looks like Nintendo is planning a tweak to the manufactured unit, too. An FCC filing (Federal Communications Commission) in the US (spotted by myce.com) was submitted in late April — with some documents just made available to the public — and is currently in progress, which seeks approval for model FTR-001_-01; this is a variation of the standard 2DS model that is attributed as FTR-001. As you can see in the letter below, the change is to the CPU to adjust a security function.

This sort of occurrence is likely fairly common in terms of model updates and tweaks to hardware, but it's interesting to see a 2DS submission this early that appears to have the goal of tightening security on the system.

Hit up the second link below to see all of the documentation related to this filing.

Welsh ex-pat Tom is responsible for the day-to-day running of the site. He's the guy to thank for the generally brilliant nature of the content which massages your eyeballs on a daily basis. Also has an unhealthy obsession with all things Bowser.

@AVahne If this is hack related there are only 40 million susceptible systems out there.

But it being CPU related suggests it is far out of reach of all but the most dedicated. I wonder if it is a precaution or something was actually figured out.

@TheWhiteFalcon I find it funny how people want a 3DS model with a second stick. Surly buying a circle pad pro is cheaper. It won't change the fact so little software supports it. Outside of Capcom (who probably pushed for the thing to be made because Monster Hunter) I can only think of 2 games with support it, Kid Icarus (to offer a slightly better left handed mode) and Galaxy Force 2. I'm sure there are a few more but generally these are less fragment user base and more not used.

@Starwolf_UK Nano Assault Ex supports it (But the retail US version didn't) it is a help for some levels but a hindrance for others. Kingdom Hearts 3D supports it.

If it is supported it is much more comfortable just having it attached due to being able to use the shoulder buttons on it.

@Dark-Link73 If it is a problem with all the existing hardware it is already too late for that.

I hope there is some method for me to get my legitimately purchased stuff from one broken system to another when Nintendo has decided they don't want me to any more. (Or they want loads more than a replacement system would cost to do so).

@unrandomsam True, it is too late for the 2/3 million 2DS handheld out in the market now, but when you have the potential of selling tens of millions of 2DS handheld over its lifetime, it's not "too late".

As for your broken DS issue, do they charge you for transferring your games from one 3DS to another?

@Dark-Link73 Think about these situations. Got a 3DS but you want to do a transfer but you cannot because the power cuts out before it can complete. Or the screen you need to see what you are doing on the transfer is smashed (But there is a homebrew that does the absolute minimum that has two versions one for each screen that would work in either case - redownload the content). Or it becomes to possible to do a full region change. (After transferring to a 3DS XL lite I have a spare 3DS XL - Might as well use it to buy from the Japanese eshop). There is also the time when Nintendo is no longer interested (Like with the SNES/NES now and Wii online). I have not needed anything to do anything with my Wii's like this but I am glad the stuff does exist. (Especially as one of them is NTSCU the PAL one I could probably get fixed).

@Dark-Link73 The Netflix and Youtube app work for me and my family fine but they run so slow compared to my iPad and other devices, the YouTube app on the 3DS also crashes every now and then.The 3DS web browser is terrible, almost every website I visit fails to load the whole website.

@Meaty-cheeky Is kind of unfair comparing the 3DS to an iPad, it'd be like comparing the gaming capabilities of an iPad vs an Alienware or any high end gaming PC.

It'd be interesting if you could test the 3DS Netflix/YouTube performance on a different wifi. Perhaps a relative's house to see if is your internet or the device.

The internet browser does suck. But I think it was built to rely on mobile sites vs full sites. Go to a website that has mobile versions and you'll see a difference. It isn't much still, but it's better than nothing I suppose.